Welcome to Culture Type!

Exploring art by and about people of African descent, primarily through the lens of books, magazines and catalogs, Culture Type features original research and reporting and shares invaluable interestingness culled from the published record on black art.

Crushing Decade-Old Auction Record, ‘The Businessmen’ by Jacob Lawrence Soars to $6.1 Million, Placing Him Among the Most Expensive African American Artists

BEST KNOWN FOR HIS HISTORY PAINTING—multi-panel series about Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, and the Great Migration, among many others—artist Jacob Lawrence (1917-2000) has made auction history.

“The Businessmen,” a 1947 painting by Lawrence sold for more than $6.1 million (including fees) last night at Sotheby’s New York. The price far exceeded the estimate which was set at $1.5 million-$2 million and established a new artist record.

The price ($6,169,800) was more than twice the artist’s previous auction high, which was achieved more than a decade ago when “The Builders” was purchased by the White House for more than $2.5 million.

“The Builders,” another 1947 painting by Lawrence, sold for $2,504,000 (including fees) on May 24, 2007. Bids skyrocketed past the estimate ($400,000-$600,000) and the lot sold at Christie’s New York for more than four times the high end of the anticipated price. The White House Acquisition Fund purchased “The Builders” and then-First Lady Laura Bush installed the painting in the Green Room of the White House.

Three African American artists established new records at Sotheby’s Contemporary Evening Auction on Nov. 14. In addition to Lawrence’s “The Businessmen,” works by Jack Whitten and Henry Taylor also reached new auction highs.

BORN IN ATLANTIC CITY, N.J., Lawrence grew up in Harlem where his penchant and passion for art were nurtured by artists Charles Alston and Augusta Savage. It was a creative and culturally transformative period for African Americans. The lively neighborhood was at the center of activities spanning the arts and politics and Lawrence took full advantage of the environment as a resource and inspiration for his work. After his hard-won reputation was long established, he moved to Seattle in 1971, where he taught at the University of Washington and lived the rest of his life.

Jacob Lawrence grew up in Harlem where his penchant and passion for art were nurtured by artists Charles Alston and Augusta Savage.

Over the course of his career, Lawrence was celebrated for his exacting style, narrative images defined by form, shape, and color. He illustrated the experiences of African Americans, life in Harlem, and significant figures and moments in history, including Toussaint Louverture, John Brown, World War II, and Hiroshima.

His most critically recognized series documented the sweeping history of the migration of African Americans from the rural South to the industrial North, a saga that reflected his own family’s story. An ambitious project, Lawrence produced The Migration Series (1940-41) in 60 panels.

“The Businessmen” was part of Lawrence’s “In the Heart of the Blackbelt” series, based on his observations of post-war African American life in cotton country. Lawrence executed the painting with egg tempera on hardboard. He depicts five black men clothed in dark suits, intensely reviewing documents from their briefcases.

Painted in a limited palette of black, brown, red, yellow, and white, the image is tightly composed with the group seated in a semi-circle. Seventy year ago, “The Businessmen” was featured in the the August 1948 edition of Fortune magazine.

THE PRICE ACHIEVED for “The Businessmen” is a historic benchmark, ranking Lawrence among the most expensive African American artists ever. The leap from $2.5 million to $6.1 million surpassed several black contemporary artists whose work, only in recent years, has garnered north of a million dollars at auction.

The price achieved for “The Businessmen” is a historic benchmark, ranking Jacob Lawrence among the most expensive African American artists ever.

In terms of historic figures, only one artist has bested Lawrence. A prolific painter, Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988) made countless works. Season after season, auction houses sell multiple Basquiats for millions—seven, eight, even nine figures. He is not only the most expensive African American artist living or dead, his work has reached historic milestones on a global scale.

When “Untitled,” a 1982 skull painting by Basquiat sold for $110.5 million (including fees) on May 18, 2017, it was the most expensive work ever sold at auction by an American-born artist. In addition, it was the most expensive worldwide, created after 1980, to surpass $100 million at auction.

Basquiat is a singular figure in an otherworldly realm. If you take Basquiat out of the equation, Lawrence is the most expensive among dead African American artists. When you consider Lawrence among living artists, to date, only Kerry James Marshall ($21.1 million), Mark Bradford ($11.98 million) and David Hammons ($8 million) have achieved higher prices at auction, benchmarks that more than likely extend to (and eclipse) private and primary market sales. CT

SUPPORT CULTURE TYPE
Do you enjoy and value Culture Type? Please consider supporting its ongoing production by making a donation. Culture Type is an editorially independent solo project that requires countless hours and expense to research, report, write, and produce. To help sustain it, make a one-time donation or sign up for a recurring monthly contribution. It only takes a minute. Many Thanks for your support.

Support Culture Type

Do you enjoy and value Culture Type? Please consider supporting its ongoing production by making a donation. Culture Type is an editorially independent solo project that requires countless hours and expense to research, report, write, and produce. To help sustain it, make a one-time donation or sign up for a recurring monthly contribution. It only takes a minute. Many Thanks for your support.

From the Archives: Culture Talk: Bruce Talamon on Photographing David Hammons

Soaring Past $7 Million, ‘Untitled (Painter)’ by Kerry James Marshall is Top Seller at Sotheby’s New York

Tate Britain Plans Major Lynette Yiadom-Boakye Survey in 2020

Major Works From the Charles White Archive Make a Rare Appearance in a Selling Exhibition at David Zwirner

Betye Saar, 92, is Taking Steps to Secure Her Legacy While Forging Ahead with New Artwork and Exhibitions

Black Art History: Jacob Lawrence’s Narrative Series About Black Perseverance and American Rebellion Inspired a Cache of Children’s Books

Black Art History: 10 Children’s Books Illuminate the Lives of Important African American Artists and Photographers

A Look Back: For 8 Years, President Obama Touted Merits of Art for Change

Next: 28 Art Curators to Watch Who Took on New Appointments in 2018

Culture Type Picks: 18 Best Black Art Books of 2018

Culture Type: The Year in Black Art 2018

Archives

Archives

Culture Type participates in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to help sites earn modest commissions by linking to amazon.com. When you make any purchase from Amazon, and the many independent vendors, small businesses, and booksellers that partner with Amazon, via a link from this site, Culture Type receives a minute percentage of its price. The program helps offset a small portion of the countless hours and expense required to research, report, write and produce Culture Type's content.